Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

In this week’s Torah reading, Jacob flees from his brother Esau and settles down for the night to sleep. Jacob dreams of a stairway stretching to heaven, with angels going up and down. At the top of the stairway is God, who blesses Jacob. When Jacob awakens he exclaims, “Surely God is in this place, and I did not know it!” He concludes that he has stumbled upon the “House of God” and that this place is nothing less than “the gateway to heaven”.  (Genesis 28:10-19)

How often are we in the presence of God and yet are unaware of it? I am certain the anonymous author of the following meditation had this story of Jacob in mind when he or she wrote it:

“There is something about the congregation praying together, as one, that makes me feel more alive than on a brisk winter’s day.  There is something about all of our voices rising together, as one, which fills me with a quiet happiness that stays with me long after the singing stops.  Why is it that here, I can feel separate bodies come together, as one, and hold on to that perfect unity as long as possible?  Why, here, am I able to reach out effortlessly, and touch someone’s hand, by doing that, touch heaven?  There is something about this place which brings out the best in me, for it brings out the best in us all.  Surely this place is holy and I did not know it.  I give thanks for this new and beautiful finding.”